Page:A biographical dictionary of modern rationalists.djvu/12

PREFACE of Rationalist development set in. Of the many causes which contributed toit two only need to be noted: the final shattering of feudal political authority by the revolutionary wave of the forties and the advance of science. On the political side the Churches had linked their fortunes to the last with those of the restored and truculent monarchies; and the new democracy, finally triumphing over its feudal oppressors, was ready to hear that the divine rightof priests had no better foundation than the divine right of kings. Just at this moment science attained maturity and began to attract even popular notice to its marvellous new interpretation of the universe. Rationalism of the more advanced character now spread on every side. In the scientific world it largely assumed the form of Agnosticism, which discredits theology by ignoring it and seeks to interpret the universe without its aid. In popular circles, in England, the same attitude was embodied in Secularism, or the determination to transact all the practical affairs of life without relation toreligious beliefs. A few accept the more emphatic title of Atheists or Materialists. In France and other Latin countries many sought to retain the constructive energy of the old faith, while discarding even its most fundamental beliefs, by founding a Religion of Humanity, or Positivism. In Germany the new spirit has been chiefly embodied in Monism, or the doctrine that one reality only exists, and that therefore there is no Supreme Being distinct from the universe and no soul distinct and detachable from the human body. In all countries the new Rationalism was also incorporated in societies for moral culture without regard to Christian or Theistic beliefs. In continental Socialism, in fine, a blunt rejection of all religious belief s was associated with the aim of improving present human conditions.

The variety of types included in this work, and the principle of selection, thus become intelligible. It includes Theists (when they do not conform to the authority of any branch of the Christian Church), Pantheists, Agnostics,. and the few who prefer to be called Atheists. It includes distinguished Secularists, Positivists, Monists, and Ethicists. But amid this variety there is a steady progression which is obscured by the need to arrange the names in alphabetical order. Only about a hundred names are chosen for the period before the French Revolution, and they are overwhelmingly Deists. Possibly some two hundred names then belong to the period between the French Revolution and the middle of the nineteenth century, and already a material change can be detected in the list. The Deists sink into a minority, while Pantheists and Non-Theists increase. The vast majority of the names in the work belong to this and the last generation, and they are predominantly the names of Agnostics, Positivists, Monists, and others who do not accept any fundamental religious beliefs.

In compiling the list of earlier Rationalists I am indebted to Mr. J. M. viii